Emilia-Romagna: "The regional law puts 3.700 jobs and 500 million in revenue at risk". Without legal play in the Region, each family would have to pay 266 euros more in taxes per year.
The CGIA MESTRE “First Report on legal gaming in Emilia Romagna” was presented today in Bologna, at the Biagi Auditorium, created on behalf of As.Tro, the association of lawful gaming managers.
The research analyzed the data relating to employment and tax revenues deriving from the sector in the Region, in light of the regional legislation in force on the subject that prohibits the operation of gaming and betting rooms (including corners), as well as the installation of gaming equipment within 500 meters of a series of sensitive places - such as schools, hospitals and places of worship - and also subjects existing activities to the same discipline, effectively causing them to close.
Effects of the Law - The full application of the regional gaming law, combined with the continuous tax increases, will generate a dramatic situation for the legal gaming sector in Emilia-Romagna: the loss of jobs is estimated at 3.700 units, out of 5.200 employees. currently engaged in gaming. As for tax revenues, the cut should be around 502 million per year, of which 445 from the Preu (Single Tax Tax), 24 from concession fees and 34 from other taxes deriving from the sector.
Employment data in the Region - According to the study, 5.262 people live in Emilia-Romagna who in various capacities receive their income in the slot machine (AWP) and video lottery (VLT) sector. In detail, these are 1.362 employed in the exercises dedicated to gaming machines. To these, we must add the 1.113 employees in the companies of the operators, ie those who place the slots at third-party businesses, and the 200 manufacturers of devices and cards. Finally, there is the most relevant part at a percentage level, namely the 2.587 employed in public establishments where Awp are present: that is, we are talking about bars, tobacconists / betting shops, arcades, etc.
Revenue data in the Region - The continuous tax increases on slot machines risk suffocating the sector, making the State lose fundamental resources. In this regard, the revenue guaranteed by the devices in Emilia-Romagna is equal to 537 million euros, a figure that exceeds the revenue guaranteed by both the TARI and the Municipal IRPEF Surcharge collected in the same area. If it were missing, every family in the region would have to pay an additional 266 euros a year to replace it.
Illegal gambling - It should also be considered that one of the effects of full application of the regional law would be a return to illegal gambling, putting the safety of the players at risk. The Legal Game, on the other hand, responds to precise rules, is strongly controlled and ensures certain winning percentages.
“The lawful gaming sector is experiencing a particularly delicate moment in Emilia Romagna, alongside the restriction of margins due to the continuous tightening of taxation, the rules relating to the 'distance meter' are being implemented. The high number of companies potentially involved in a time of financial difficulty puts at risk a supply chain that ensures thousands of jobs and millions of euros in revenue - says dr. Andrea Vavolo, researcher of CGIA Mestre-. The desirable approach is, if anything, to strengthen the role of the sector as a safeguard for legality, otherwise there is a risk that its downsizing will leave dangerous spaces for illegal gaming ".
“One of the purposes for which we decided to commission this study from Cgia Mestre - said Dr. Armando Iaccarino, President of the Astro Study Center - is the need to start considering the legal gaming sector mainly from an economic point of view, as it is a real industry with induced activities in terms of employment and taxation.
It is all the more important to do so in a region like Emilia Romagna which represents one of the most significant territories since the birth of legal gaming, and which affects thousands of people employed in companies in the sector and therefore thousands of families ".
The surveys carried out therefore highlight a dramatic situation for the lawful gaming sector in Emilia Romagna: the full realization of the distance meter will result in an 80% reduction in generalist shops and by 60% in dedicated rooms.